Clueless
by Brigid
Summary: Tom Paris is having a bad day.


Title: Clueless  
  
Author: Brigid  
  
Email: brigidandmike@juno.com  
  
Rating: [G]  
  
Series: Voyager  
  
Part: 1/1  
  
Synopsis: Tom's having a tough day  
  
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters. I thank them for letting me play with them.  
  
Date: June 30, 2003  
  
Thanks to LA, Ann and Nancy for the beta!  
  
For B'Arb.  
  
Clueless  
  
Tom Paris was clueless as usual. Neither his wife nor his daughter was speaking to him. All he'd done was try to make the boy feel at home. If he was going to marry his daughter he should at least feel at home. He sat on the ancient porch swing outside their desert home and rocked as he carefully went over the whole scenario again.  
  
It had started with dinner. Miral wanted them to meet the young man she'd been seeing so she'd brought him home for dinner. His name was Joe and she'd apparently been dating him for some time. Tom frowned as he realized that her mother seemed to know a lot more about this relationship than he did. B'Elanna had been on edge before Miral transported in and reminded him several times to be on his best behavior.  
  
Hmpff Tom thought, I'm always on my best behavior.  
  
Dinner hadn't seemed to be a big problem. The replicator had produced a nice roast and B'Elanna had made strawberry shortcake from scratch since Miral had said this it Joe's favorite. They'd talked of Starfleet and Joe's recent assignment to DS9. His field was security and the space station had a very interesting security system. Tom recounted his experience with the bar owner, Quark, and everyone seemed to find that amusing.  
  
They had talked of Miral's job at Starfleet headquarters. She was a born pilot but had her mother's engineering skills as well, Tom digressed, as he was often did whenever the topic of his daughter came up... The design teams had been vying for her since she graduated from the academy. But her Uncle Harry knew he had the best shot at her. His section designed the small fighters that were currently used in close combat. The "Delta Flyer" had been the model for many years but Miral had been teasing him lately that it was woefully outdated. Tom took the insult with a smile because it came from his only child.  
  
After dinner they had all retired to the porch to watch a magnificent sunset over the desert. Miral and B'Elanna decided to take a walk but Tom had declined to go. Their Klingon energy was far superior to his and he felt like just sitting for a while. He'd worked all day on a new holo-novel and he needed some time to relax and let his mind drift to other matters. To Tom's surprise, Joe had wanted to stay behind with him. They waved as the women moved off and then there was silence, a long silence.  
  
Joe finally cleared his throat and tentatively began, "You have a beautiful place here, sir."  
  
"We like it," Tom answered cordially.  
  
"It's nice that you have your own hololab so you can do all your programming at home."  
  
"Yes, it is."  
  
Joe tried again, "Miral often talks about growing up here with you always at hand while her mother worked for Starfleet."  
  
That caught Tom's interest. He answered defensively, "It was a conscious decision on our part. B'Elanna loves her work and I love mine. But Miral is our priority and we tried to do what was best for her. I think it was harder on B'Elanna than it was on me. She desperately missed being here for all of Miral's special moments."  
  
"Sir, I didn't mean . I mean. Miral has nothing but wonderful things to say about her childhood and about both of you," Joe stuttered. "I guess that's why. I mean. that's one of the reasons. I mean. oh shit," Joe finished lamely.  
  
Tom looked at the young man quizzically. He remembered being this flustered once, only once, and it had involved meeting a fiery Klingon warrior whose niece he had married. A nerve-wracking experience as he recalled. He thought about offering the young man some sympathy but decided to wait and see what was coming next.  
  
Joe looked like he was in some pain. "What I'm trying to say, Sir, is that Miral is a wonderful girl. woman. and I would. we would.," he trailed off again. Finally taking a deep breath he managed to get out, "I'd like to marry your daughter, Sir. I love her very much."  
  
"You'd like to marry my daughter?" Tom repeated softly. The idea had never occurred to him that some day he might lose his daughter to another man. What would that mean to his relationship with Miral? Would someone else be there when she needed comforting or a shoulder to cry on? Could someone else calm her fears over an impending exam or persuade her to approach an impending project with a note of caution? He'd been all these things to Miral over the years - confidant, friend, mentor, voice of caution. And she'd been those things to him. Of course, she'd had her mother in all of those roles too, but Tom knew his relationship with Miral was special. He knew how lucky he was to be the one to stay home with her, to be on call whenever she needed someone. He knew how good their life together had been. As fear gripped his heart that this relationship might be over he looked closely at the young man seated across from him, realizing that he was nervously sitting on the edge of his chair. Tom resumed the lazy motion of the porch swing and the young man's tension seemed to ease a bit.  
  
"I love her very much too," Tom said softly.  
  
"I promise you that I'll take care of her. I know we're both in Starfleet but there are plenty of places where we can serve together and Deep Space Nine is one of those places. sir," he added as his courage began to come back.  
  
"I'm aware of that, son," Tom answered. Since when did he start addressing younger men as 'son,' he asked himself.  
  
"And Miral can still have her career. There's a great need for engineers on the space station. I know she wouldn't be designing as much but she could still come back and work with Captain Kim from time to time. I wouldn't want her to give anything up by marrying me." Joe continued urgently.  
  
"And what would she be gaining?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, I see. well, she'd be. I mean we'd be. I mean. I'm a good officer, sir. And Starfleet is my life. But if she really needed to stay I'm sure there's work for me here. And she'd be gaining someone who loves her, who is willing to stand by her side forever." His voice was much stronger now and held conviction.  
  
Tom smiled, "Yes, I'm sure she would." He paused before adding, "It's not easy being married to a Klingon, Joe. They don't always see things the way humans do."  
  
Now this was territory that Joe understood, "It's not easy being in love with a Klingon, sir, but it's well worth the effort. I love the fire that burns inside her constantly. I love the courage and the conviction when she tackles any new project. And I love the tension and frustration when something doesn't go her way or someone misunderstands her passion. That's where I come in. She turns to me and screams and rages and when it's all done, she's usually solved the problem herself. But she still gives me credit for it because I stood by her. I'd hate for her to realize that I'm just a sounding board, I guess, but she really is incredible." Joe finished in a tone full of wonder.  
  
"Yes, they are." Tom agreed. He held his hand out to the younger man. "I don't know that I have much to say in this matter if Miral has made up her mind, but for what it's worth you have my permission. Just remember, son, she and her mother are the most important people in the world to me and I would do anything to protect them." He still held Joe's hand in a firm grip. Joe recognized right away the strength of the man and the strength of his love for his family.  
  
"I'll never give you cause to doubt her safety or her happiness," he answered.  
  
They sat in silence for a while as Tom pondered how his life was about to change. Gaining a son? Okay, maybe he could deal with that. Losing a daughter? No, that was out of the question. Grandchildren? He grimaced - better not go there, old man. When had he become an old man? Soon, he assumed, to be a father-in-law?  
  
His reverie was broken by the return of those two important people. Miral looked a little apprehensive as she climbed the stairs to the porch. Tom motioned for her to sit next to him and took her hand. "I guess congratulations are in order?" he asked.  
  
"I take it you two had a talk," she replied and gave Joe a sly grin.  
  
"Yes, we did. I take it your mother already knew?"  
  
"Um. yeah, we had talked about it." Miral's answer held a note of apology. "I'm sorry, Dad, I just wasn't sure how you would react. And I wanted you to meet Joe before we. before I said anything."  
  
"Well, I think this calls for a celebration." Tom answered as calmly as he could. "I think I still have a bottle of champagne from the last Voyager reunion. How about we break that open and have a toast?"  
  
Tom noticed that B'Elanna was eyeing him cautiously but she took his hand when he held it out to her and they walked together into the house. The bottle of champagne was poured and when everyone had a glass they looked expectantly at Tom. He cleared his throat and began, "Well. here's to the happy couple, Miral and Joe."  
  
B'Elanna breathed a small sigh of relief and put the glass to her lips, but Tom continued, "It will be nice to finally have someone else around who leaves the toilet seat up."  
  
If looks could kill, Tom Paris would be a dead man.  
  
Miral's cry of "Daddy, how could you?" still rang in his ears. As he went over the evening in his mind he realized, Yep, this was where he'd gone wrong.  
  
Joe had sputtered and choked on his wine, Miral had turned a bright shade of red and B'Elanna had just stared at him, coldly. They finished their drinks and Miral immediately stated that she was going to walk Joe to the transport site and she may or may not be back. B'Elanna had silently taken the glasses to the kitchen recycler and then gone to bed, still without a word.  
  
The swing stopped as Tom saw his daughter slowly walking back to their home. Either she'd decided to stay with them tonight after all or she was coming to vent her wrath. Tom steeled himself for whatever was to follow.  
  
Miral climbed the stairs and looked at him quietly for a long time.  
  
He was afraid she was going to just turn away again and he wasn't sure he could take that so he began, "Miral, I'm sorry."  
  
She smiled finally, "It's okay, Daddy. Joe thinks you are the coolest guy around. For some reason he's crazy about you. and so am I." She slowly crossed the porch to snuggle up next to him on the swing. "I love you, Daddy, but your sense of humor leaves a lot to be desired. Let's let Uncle Harry do the toasting at the wedding, okay?"  
  
"Okay, baby." he replied as he kissed her forehead. Now, if I can just get her mother to speak to me again.  
  
The End. 


End file.
